Sweden is one of the most equal countries in the world and equality is supposed to mainstream all political areas. Implementation is a common issue when it comes to democracy. It is important that national decisions are recognisable in the municipalities and it is there for important that the decisions are implement correctly. A successful implementation, due to implementation theory, shall consist of three conditions; the applier needs to understand the decision, the applier needs to want to implement the decision and the applier has to be able to implement the decision. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate if Karlstad municipality has been able to imply equality within its organisation, as an employer, which also constitutes my research question. This thesis consists of a case study from an implementation theory perspective where interviews and text analysis are the primary sources. The conclusion shows that Karlstad municipality has not

2.

Aronsson, Lars

et al.

Karlstad University, Faculty of Social and Life Sciences, Department of Geography and Tourism.

Norell, PO

Karlstad University, Faculty of Social and Life Sciences, Department of Politics and History.

Nilsson, Lennart

Karlstad University, Faculty of Social and Life Sciences, Department of Politics and History.

This dissertation deals with how national higher education policy affects stakeholder influence in practice, i.e. how two selected higher education institutions, the University of Oslo and Telemark University College, have interpreted and adapted to national policy reforms. The aim of this dissertation is threefold. First, four stakeholder regimes: the expert, welfare, bargaining and entrepreneurial regimes, are developed. Second, these stakeholder regimes are used to investigate the evolvement of norms and structures for stakeholder influence over time, i.e. approximately 40 years, at the University of Oslo and Telemark University College, respectively. Third, historical institutionalism is used at an organisational level in order to reveal the evolvement of continuity and change in stakeholder influence at these two institutions.

This dissertation argues that the two higher education institutions have both undergone an evolvement of stakeholder influence in three phases where the two first phases have paved the way for the ultimately dominant characteristics of the entrepreneurial regime. At the same time, the analysis shows that the initial institutional legacies of the University of Oslo and Telemark University College differed. The University of Oslo had an established institutional legacy where the professors had the most influence, whereas the participation of other internal stakeholder groups became part of the legacy during the 1970s. Recently, ideas of strong leadership have been added to the legacy. In contrast, the institutional legacy of Telemark University College was based on cooperation with external stakeholders already from the outset of the period studied here.

On a general level, this dissertation argues that policy is more likely to change practice if the changes are incremental and introduced as layering modes of change on the structural aspects of the regime models. Along with these incremental changes – where the University of Oslo and Telemark University College become more alike in several aspects – both higher education institutions display a number of continuous practices; cooperation with external stakeholders is one example which can be traced back to the early stage of this study. However, Telemark University College initially opened up more to the outside world than the University of Oslo.

Karlstad University, Faculty of Social and Life Sciences, Department of Geography and Tourism. Karlstad University, Faculty of Social and Life Sciences, Centre for the Studies of Social Sciences Didactics.

Olausson, Peter

Karlstad University, Faculty of Social and Life Sciences, Department of Politics and History.

This study focuses upon the extent that teaching about democracy affects pupil comprehension and opinions about democracy. Its point of departure is the question, “to what extent is school an agent of democratic socialization?” The overall aim of this study is to contribute to understanding the democratic socialization process and especially to understand the role that school can play in that process.

The study is comprised of a survey about democratic values, democratic institutions and democratic authorities completed by 318 upper secondary pupils upon two occasions. The first was just prior to the start of the course, “Samhällskunskap A” and the second was at the end of that course. The survey also included a number of background questions related to each individual participant; 28 pupils in one of the schools who had not yet studied “Samhällskunskap A” were used as a control group. Twelve teachers involved in actual teaching at that time were interviewed regarding their attitudes toward the official documents about democratic socialization and whether or not they saw the goals as articulated in those documents as possible to achieve.

Based upon theories about democratic socializationand socialization agents, a number of conditions and problems were formulated and operationalized in order to analyse the outcome of the study. Three main concepts were used as analytical tools: democratic orientations,democratic socialization and socialization agent.

The results do not support the assumption that school can be seen as a general democratic socialization agent through teaching about politics and democracy. But certain situations and aspects of democratic orientations demonstrate that the school has a tendency to affect socialization; therefore school is seen as a specific democratic socialization agent. The main conclusion of this study is that teaching about politics and democracy is expected to have limited influence on pupils in upper secondary school. Also important is the finding that the pupil’s average change on the aggregate level is low, but on individual level, many pupils made significant changes regarding their democratic orientations during the course. The results support a view that the process of democratic socialization is a complex process and is difficult to predict.

We now have a rapidly growing global city system that is changing society. The impact of this process is considerable and has far reaching consequences for global sustainable development. These transitions occur as a result of the complexities, uncertainties and challenges confronting society. Urban transitions are both evolutionary – incremental changes to societal structures and the environment – and revolutionary – rapid changes to societal structures and the environment. Urban transitions are about broad societal change that is the intentional and unintentional result of historical or contemporary decisions. This means that transitions are channelled and mediated through societal structures and through the actions of a multitude of heterogeneous actors—formal and informal, top-down or bottom-up, individual or collective—in action and reaction to perceived changes in society. Urban transitions are a vital global issue as more than half of the world population lives in urban areas today, and, at the same time global economy, cultures and politics becomes increasingly urban.

Modern society has constructed forms for handling collective problems and this has taken the form of departmentalisation within the framework of the welfare state, as well as in the highly specialised business sector. These departments and branches are to a great extent geared to face identified challenges to society and consist of trained experts. Problems suitable for handling by such existing –‘prefabricated’ – departments are sometimes called ‘tame’ problems, which refer to problems that enjoy relative consensus in society on both problem definition and solution. Society faces issues characterized by fragmentation of perspectives, understanding, knowledge and interests, or when the issue at stake is given different priority by the involved actors. Complex problems that do not fit neatly into predefined policy areas and regulatory arrangements provide an opening for innovations and solutions that can break free from constraining structures.

Uncertainty encourages viewing policy as an ongoing exploration with many possible adjustments, rather than an exercise based upon detailed assumptions and one singular image of the future to come. This requires research and reflection on social learning and institutional innovation as well as development of new modes of communication between different actors, scales and areas of expertise in the urban setting. The kingpin for handling uncertainty is an improved communication between actors leading to an increased social learning. This social learning must aim at a more common understanding of problems facing society, and take place between experts, businesses, individuals, NGOs and politicians.

An elaborated and commonly shared understanding of the policy ‘playing field’ will bring actors from different spheres of society together and help to solve collective issues. A strong focus on social learning further call for flexible policy making that demands a positive feedback loop which may create order and efficient knowledge out of various experiences. Proactive policymaking is not about finding the one right policy for the future, but the focus must be on a flexible policy making at proper scales for both democracy and efficiency concerns. This is a more systemic perspective on policy, more concerned with who interacts with whom, about what, rather than targeting specific, well-defined outcomes as policy goals. With this perspective on policy as an ongoing process follows that a multitude of agents act as policy-makers, not just government agencies, but also firms and industry associations, NGOs and private foundations.

Capacity to act is at the core of handling urban transitions. Capacity to act is built upon the ability to pool resources from different actors in society creating a system for efficient problem solving. How may society build the capacity to be more proactive and mitigate perceived future problems already today? How do society create authority (legitimate decision making) to handle ‘abrasive’ policy problem that can entail sacrifices by both elites and ordinary citizens?

19.

Granberg, Mikael

et al.

Karlstad University, Faculty of Social and Life Sciences, Department of Politics and History.

Climate change is a complicated social problem. Formulating and implementing adaptation measures at the local level entails handling value conflicts, power relations, governance, equity, resource allocation, competing interests and, connected to all these issues and more, uncertainty. All this takes place in a complex context where a multitude of factors, and actors representing different societal interests, are interacting both facilitating and hindering effective action and involves changes in modes of operation in society as a whole.

Adaptation range from the local to the large, its time horizon can range from the short to the long terms, it can be tactical or strategic, it can seek immediate, delayed, or cumulative effects, and it can encompass widely differing outcomes.

Accordingly, formulating adaptation responses is a challenging issue for municipalities for a number of reasons. Firstly, the large range of possible climate change impacts. Secondly, the insufficient knowledge base. Thirdly, the lack of consensus on responsibilities. Fourthly, the usual set of problems facing public policy of this sort. In this paper we will focus adaptation measures implemented by Swedish municipalities. The empirical material consists of studies from state authorities of municipal adaptation to climate change.

20. Gray, David

et al.

Miles, Lee

Karlstad University, Faculty of Social and Life Sciences, Department of Politics and History.

This commissioned report for NATO, completed as part of a NATO Fellowship award, examined the crisis management policy options available to NATO. The report argues that rather than devising 'top down' approaches to crisis management, logistical challenges of undertakinjg crisis management operations in Europe required a 'bottom up' perspective

22. Gustavsson, BO

et al.

Karlsson, Jan Ch

Karlstad University, Faculty of Economic Sciences, Communication and IT, Department of Working Life Science.

Räftegård, Curt

Karlstad University, Faculty of Social and Life Sciences, Department of Politics and History.

The purpose of this field study is to acquire a greater knowledge and understanding of the Nepali diaspora in Varanasi, India concerning their views of and participation in the political situation in Nepal. In this way the study aims to contribute to the research field of migrant transnationalism. Nepal is currently facing a democratization process after years of civil war and political conflict. The harsh situation is one of the reasons the country has seen a grand emigration movement, especially to the neighbor in the south – India. It is of interest to investigate whether theories concerning migrants‟ political participation in homeland politics, called migrant transnationalism, can contribute with understanding for the Nepali diaspora. The general research question for the thesis is: How does the Nepalese diaspora in Varanasi perceive and engage for the democratization process currently taking place in Nepal relating to research within the field of migrant transnationalism?

The study constitutes a descriptive case study with interviews as method for collection of data. Previous research from the fields of political science and sociology is used to outline the theoretical framework. The study is demarcated to investigate the views and political participation of Nepalese people in Varanasi in India. The theoretical framework concerning migrant transnationalism is also demarcated to specific fields and themes in order to analyze the data constructively.

The study finds that the Nepali diaspora in Varanasi has a strong support for democracy and believes it can contribute to democracy and change in Nepal. The diaspora has strong social and political ties to Nepal through news, family ties, remittances and being able to keep their Nepali identity. The study also finds that the Nepalese migrants in general are engaging in migrant transnational political participation through for example political meetings.

26.

Hägglund, Solveig

et al.

Karlstad University, Faculty of Arts and Education, Department of Education.

Söderström, Åsa

Karlstad University, Faculty of Arts and Education, Department of Education.

Thelander, Nina

Karlstad University, Faculty of Social and Life Sciences, Department of Politics and History. Karlstad University, Faculty of Social and Life Sciences, Centre for the Studies of Social Sciences Didactics.

Karlstad University, Faculty of Arts and Education, Department of Education.

Thelander, Nina

Karlstad University, Faculty of Social and Life Sciences, Department of Politics and History. Karlstad University, Faculty of Social and Life Sciences, Centre for the Studies of Social Sciences Didactics.

Karlstad University, Faculty of Arts and Education, Department of Education.

Thelander, Nina

Karlstad University, Faculty of Social and Life Sciences, Department of Politics and History. Karlstad University, Faculty of Social and Life Sciences, Centre for the Studies of Social Sciences Didactics. Karlstad University, Faculty of Arts and Education, Department of Education.

Karlstad University, Faculty of Arts and Education, Department of Education.

Thelander, Nina

Karlstad University, Faculty of Social and Life Sciences, Department of Politics and History. Karlstad University, Faculty of Social and Life Sciences, Centre for the Studies of Social Sciences Didactics. Karlstad University, Faculty of Arts and Education, Department of Education.

Karlstad University, Faculty of Social and Life Sciences, Department of Politics and History. Karlstad University, Faculty of Social and Life Sciences, Centre for the Studies of Social Sciences Didactics.

Karlstad University, Faculty of Social and Life Sciences, Department of Politics and History. Karlstad University, Faculty of Social and Life Sciences, Centre for the Studies of Social Sciences Didactics.

Karlstad University, Faculty of Social and Life Sciences, Department of Politics and History. Karlstad University, Faculty of Social and Life Sciences, Centre for the Studies of Social Sciences Didactics.

Karlstad University, Faculty of Social and Life Sciences, Department of Politics and History. Karlstad University, Faculty of Social and Life Sciences, Centre for the Studies of Social Sciences Didactics.

Karlstad University, Faculty of Social and Life Sciences, Department of Politics and History. Karlstad University, Faculty of Social and Life Sciences, Centre for the Studies of Social Sciences Didactics.

Karlstad University, Faculty of Social and Life Sciences, Department of Politics and History. Karlstad University, Faculty of Social and Life Sciences, Centre for the Studies of Social Sciences Didactics.

Karlstad University, Faculty of Social and Life Sciences, Department of Politics and History. Karlstad University, Faculty of Social and Life Sciences, Centre for the Studies of Social Sciences Didactics.

Karlstad University, Faculty of Social and Life Sciences, Department of Politics and History. Karlstad University, Faculty of Social and Life Sciences, Centre for the Studies of Social Sciences Didactics.

Karlstad University, Faculty of Social and Life Sciences, Department of Politics and History. Karlstad University, Faculty of Social and Life Sciences, Centre for the Studies of Social Sciences Didactics.

Karlstad University, Faculty of Social and Life Sciences, Department of Politics and History. Karlstad University, Faculty of Social and Life Sciences, Centre for the Studies of Social Sciences Didactics.

Karlstad University, Faculty of Social and Life Sciences, Department of Politics and History. Karlstad University, Faculty of Social and Life Sciences, Centre for the Studies of Social Sciences Didactics.

Karlstad University, Faculty of Social and Life Sciences, Department of Politics and History. Karlstad University, Faculty of Social and Life Sciences, Centre for the Studies of Social Sciences Didactics.

Karlstad University, Faculty of Social and Life Sciences, Department of Politics and History. Karlstad University, Faculty of Social and Life Sciences, Centre for the Studies of Social Sciences Didactics.

Karlstad University, Faculty of Social and Life Sciences, Department of Politics and History.

The Russian way of life as observed by some Swedes2015In: Iron Links: Essays about Swedish Migrants to the Urals from the Beginning of 1700s to late 1800s. / [ed] Mikhail Abramzon, Natalya Frolova, Ann-Kristin Högman och Peter Olausson, Magnitogorsk och Karlstad: Magnitogorsk Publishing House , 2015Chapter in book (Refereed)

46.

Högman, Ann-Kristin

Karlstad University, Faculty of Social and Life Sciences, Department of Politics and History.

Karlstad University, Faculty of Social and Life Sciences, Department of Politics and History. Karlstad University, Faculty of Social and Life Sciences, Centre for the Studies of Social Sciences Didactics.

The starting point for this article is the need for empirical knowledge about organizational configuration for societal risk and safety management activities ina modern welfare society. In this paper, we use Sweden as an empirical frame to analyze the administrative management structure at the local governmental level.The analysis is based on statistical analysis of information from a web-survey with administrative chief/head officials (n51283) with responsibilities for different municipal functions and sectors. The sample represented 25% of the Swedish municipalities (n5290) and the response rate was approximately 60% (n5766).The responses to two sets of questions (25 and 45 questions) are used for statistical analyses of management structures and task distribution within themunicipal organizations. Principal component factor analyses with Varimax and Kaisers Normalization was applied as a structure detection method. The resultsindicate a clear and uniform way to institutionalize societal risk and safety management at the local level. Furthermore, the management course of action is found to have different types of value characters. The implications that arise from the patterns identified in this study are considered to be of general relevance and topicality for research and practice in this area

The subject for this thesis is to analyze the Swedish political the Sweden Democrats (Sverigedemokraterna) through the use of history theories. The purpose is to examine the following two questions:

1. what types of history consciousness is present in the source material

2. the use of history (historiebruk) shown in the source material

The source material has consisted two official party publications, Sverigedemokraternas principprogram from 2005 and 2011.

The main theoretical frameworks for the analysis has consisted of the typology for use of history as presented by professor Klas-Göran Karlsson together with selected theories connected to history consciousness, not the least the model presented by Bernard Eric Jensen.

The result of the analysis shows frequent examples where the use of history and history consciousness is present in the rhetoric used in the source material. By tracing the use back to the theories selected Sverigedemokraterna’s deployment of use of history and history consciousness is interpreted and discussed.